Adaptations in wing morphology rather than wingbeat kinematics enable flight in small hoverfly species.

ABSTRACT: Due to physical scaling laws, size greatly affects animal locomotor ability and performance. Whether morphological and kinematic traits always jointly respond to size variation remains poorly known. Here, we examine the relative importance of morphological and kinematic changes in mitigating the consequence of size reduction on aerodynamic force production for weight support, focusing on the flight of hoverflies (Syrphidae). We compared the morphology of 28 hoverfly species, and the flight biomechanics and aerodynamics of eight species with body masses ranging from 5 to 100 mg. Our study reveals no significant effect of body mass on wingbeat kinematics among species, suggesting that morphological rather than kinematics changes compensate for the reduction in weight support associated with

SUBMITTER: Le Roy C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12483507 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature